According to information from the IAIN NICOLSON Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary Website:

The earliest we typically see (or hear) cranes is late September, with the peak of the migration occurring from late October through early November and ending sometime in December. During this time the cranes rarely stay for an extended period, usually just over night.

I've witnessed the same broad window for the migration over the past thirty years of hanging around in the Sandhills during the Fall.
The peak of migration sometimes correlates with the push of Colder Air from the North..

You may also see large flocks(numbering in the thousands) land on meadows and pastures in the middle of the day, spend a few hours resting before spiraling back up to altitude to continue their southerly migration. They are masters at reading winds aloft and weather...Probably part of the reason these birds have survived for millions of years...

Keep your eye pealed for the Whooping Cranes too...The White Whoopers are very distinctive against the dark landscape color of late fall.

With less than 300 wild birds in existence it may be the last and only time you ever see one...

I photographed these four adults and one juvenile several years ago in late October.

BB

__________________"First In, Last Out, Gods Speed, Scouts Out"

"A Smokin Hole is a cheap price to pay for a Bitchin Manuever" .....Martin Pargee

According to information from the IAIN NICOLSON Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary Website:

The earliest we typically see (or hear) cranes is late September, with the peak of the migration occurring from late October through early November and ending sometime in December. During this time the cranes rarely stay for an extended period, usually just over night.

Another personal observation, is you may see large flocks land on meadows and pastures in the middle of the day, and spend a few hours resting before spiraling back up to altitude to continue their southerly migration.

BB

may have to go up and hang out for a weekend in a month or so then. thanks.

__________________
If worms had daggers, birds wouldn't fuck with them.

Some say the Great Plains wash out somewhere about two blocks from my home here in Austin; some say they end about where the Edwards Plateau starts getting eroded from the south, not far from here between San Angelo and Eden:

Some say they go all the way to the Rio Grande, but that's a pretty arbitrary choice. I'd be more comfortable ending them around Big Spring, maybe. We could argue about the Rolling Plains being a part of the Great Plains, but here in West Texas, high or low, it's all short grass prairie. Here are the famous horses of the 6666 near Guthrie:
The ranch covers most of the county. Their horses are known for stamina, smarts, and a bit more size than most cowhorses. I'd like to have one of them someday.

No doubt Lamesa is on the High Plains, and Great Plains to boot. By next spring, that cotton field in the foreground will want that petrochemical fertilizer that's goin' up in smoke in the distance:

I'd call this pritnear the southwestern end of the Great Plains, near Lenorah in Andrews county:
The Caprock has just kinda petered out, giving way to the Permian Basin, which is just a gully about a hundred miles across. The other side is a transition from the Edwards Plateau to the Chihuahuan Desert. I know, I know, I'm mixing geophysical and climatic zone terms, but tough. It's not like what you see is independent from what you're standin' on now, is it?

Thanks to everybody who contributed to this thread. It's a doozie. My dad was born in Wayne, Nebraska and worked summers in Lusk, Wyoming. My grandmother descended from kids who were orphaned on a wagon train somewhere in between. I've heard some tales, and somehow, the prairie feels comfortable to me. Like I said, thanks.